The seizures apart from arms, ammunition and explosives included packets of biscuit made in Pakistan, medicines and bandages.

Security personnel take positions during a gunbattle with militants at Army camp at Nagrota near Jammu on Tuesday. PTI Photo

Three heavily armed terrorists killed by security forces during an encounter inside an army unit at Nagrota on Tuesday appear to be part of a group which recently sneaked into the Indian territory from Pakistan. Though there has been no official word from the army so far, sources said this was indicative from the seizure of a number of Pakistan-made items, including eatables and medicines apart from arms, ammunition and explosives from the slain terrorists on Wednesday. Though the searches were still going on with army’s bomb disposal squad blasting ‘blind’ explosive devices being found at the encounter site, sources said that the seizures so far, apart from arms, ammunition and explosives, included packets of biscuit made in Pakistan, medicines and bandages, scant bottles, rope and a wire-cutter among other things like vests, mobile phone and polythene sheets.

Except the fact that they had come from Ban Toll plaza side towards Udhampur, it is still unknown how they managed to enter Indian territory. The army officers, however, said that their first priority was to sanitise the entire area, adding such analysis as to how and where they came from can be done later.

Seven armymen, including two officers, were killed when three terrorists in police uniform stormed into the premises of 166 Medium Regiment unit, throwing grenades and firing indiscriminately at the sentry on the main gate facing the Jammu-Srinagar national highway during wee hours of Tuesday. While one officer and three soldiers were killed during initial firefight with the terrorists, a defence ministry spokesperson Lt Colonel Manish Mehta said that another officer and two soldiers got killed while neutralising a hostage-like situation emerging due to the presence of two women and two children, besides 12 soldiers, in the unit.

Showing presence of mind, the women had locked the main entrance to a building from inside. To be doubly sure that terrorists do not manage to break through the door, they had also placed all the furniture and other things behind the doors, sources added.